iWaited
by HeyBulldogProductions
Summary: It takes two to go to war, one to fall in love...    Or it only takes one to grab the other by the shoulders in mid-sentence, kiss them, go to a mental institution, and yell 'Bazinga' before the other finally falls with them...or maybe that's just us.


_**iWaited**_

(Freddie's POV)

_It takes two to go to war, one to fall in love._

That's my motto. I wrote it on the bottom of every love letter I sent to my wife. She wrote a similar quote on the bottom of all of hers:

_Or it only takes one to grab the other by the shoulders in mid-sentence, kiss them, go to a mental institution, and yell 'Bazinga!' before the other finally falls with them...or maybe that's justy us. :P_

It's November 5th, a Saturday. Most working adults have Saturday and Sunday off. Watching my kids and their friends play in the pile of leaves, I let out a half-smile and a sighed. The pot of coffee from my kitchen started to smell good. I got out of my chair and straddled over to the kitchen to go get it. Carly and Gibby were discussing something once I entered.

"Gloria should have a clown party!" Gibby protested as he proped the collar of his navy blue polo. Letting out a silent giggle at their little fibble, I quietly got my coffee cup.

"Ew, no! Clowns are uber-scary! Plus little Gina and Gabby are deathly afraid of them." Carly sat with her enlarged pregnant stomach pressed against the table.

Gibby scratched his forehead in furthur protest. "That's only because little Gendy pushed her into a clown at the carnival! Are you sure Gendy's my kid?"

At this point, I was dying. An audible giggle took place at this point while Carly's mouth formed an 'O'.

"Of course she's yours!"

"She acts like Sam! C'mon, you can tell me, your husband, Gibby, if you and Sam..." He twiddled his fingers together.

"Gib" She began. "First off, stop doing _that_. Second, Sam's my best friend. Third, we're not lesbians. And fourth, that's biologically impossible. Sorry bud, but she's yours." She pinched his cheek in a cute way and pecked him on the lips. Witnissing this, I yelled something over my shoulder.

"No PDA in my kitchen!"

"If I wasn't due in 2 months, I'd lift my leg and kick your ass for saying that." Carly said sitting back in the chair. Gibby and I both let out a laugh.

"Had to, Carls. It's payback for all the times you said that to me in the hallway." Pouring 3 cups worth of coffee and placing the containers of sugar, creamer and coffee straws on a plate, I walked over and set it on the table. I drank mine right away. Sometimes I just drink black coffee. Carly and Gibby put some packets of both sugar and creamer in and stirred.

"Well it's only because you and Sam practically sucked each other's face off in the school hallway." Raising my eyebrows, I rolled up the sleeve of my white button up shirt, tightened my tie, and drank some more coffee.

"We wanted to give our school some culture." I said.

"What culture?" Gibby scoffed while fixing a part of his gelled hair.

"French. _Embrasser est un art magnifique._" I spoke and made a kissing noise for extra-effect. Carly and Gibby both laughed. Just then, my daughter, Ellen, came running in with a stack of mail in her hands.

"Dad!" Running as fast as her 6 year old legs could handle, she stopped in a dead-halt right before my feet.

"Dad! Mom's letter came today!" My face lit up with a smile as she handed the fresh envalope to me.

"Sweetheart, could you go grab Toby for me?" I asked. Ellen and Toby were me and Sam's children. Toby had Sam's hair and eyes, while Ellen had my brunette hair and brown eyes. Yet, her hair flowed curly like her moms. They both inherited my technology gene as well as Sam's temperment...super bad-ass combo. Ellen ran back outside to the yard, bellowing her brother's name. I began to laugh as a single tear swam down my cheek and my face became warm.

"Dude, are you blushing?" Gibby got up and poured another cup full of coffee.

"Huh?" I asked in a daze. "Yeah, I guess I am." My eyes never left the envalope. Carly cupped her hand around my shoulder, rubbing and squeezing it as I opened the envalope and dangled the letter in my hands. Toby and Ellen came running in a second later. Setting them both in my lap, I began to read the letter:

_Freddie,_

_Miss you guys so much! Blaargh, I cannot wait to get out of here. Things are getting rougher than usual, but mama likes it that way :)_

_Ellen and Toby must be getting so big now. Haven't seen either of them in almost a year. Betcha Toby's speaking in full sentences now, right? Gosh, I cannot imagine how hard it is for all of you guys to do this. Don't worry though, I'll know in a couple of months when I can come home and see all of you. Kids, always remember this, mama's fighting for independance._

"Dad." Toby interrupted me. "What's independance?"

"Independance means no one's bossing you around. You make your own choices." Ellen said from the other side of my lap. All I could do is laugh and look over at Carly and Gibby. Gibby had his arm around Carly adoringly as she held her hand over her heart.

"The bad guys that Mom and the rest of the soliders over there are trying to boss us around. Mom's over there to stop them, right dad?" She looked up at me with those adoring brown eyes of hers. Another tear of joy slipped out.

"That's absolutely right, sweetheart." Grabbing the side of her head, I planted a big kiss on the top of her head and continued reading.

_Mushy alert, children, you might not wanna hear this._

"Yuck! Mushy love stuff. I'm going back out to play" said Toby as he hopped off my lap. I chuckled and set the letter on the leg that Toby just got off of. Looking at Ellen, I said to her:

"Sweetheart, you wanna go too?"

"Nah, I love when you and mom are mushy, which isn't a lot." she laughed.

"Very true." I read onward.

_Hun, I love you too much. You really gave me courage. I had it before you came, but it really surfaced when I did the hardest thing in my whole life. Telling you, or showing you by kissing you that one night, how I felt. No amount of denial could escape past you. In a way, you nurtured me. Showed me how to love. No one ever did that. My dad left and never came back and my mom was never around much either. Just wanted to say that. Thanks, nerd._

_ -Sam_

_It takes two to go to war, one to fall in love_

_Or it only takes one to grab the other by the shoulders in mid-sentence, kiss them, go to a mental institution, and yell 'Bazinga!' before the other finally falls with them...or maybe that's justy us. :P_

"Awww!" Ellen cooed at me. I gave her a slopy peck on the cheek and sent her back to the yard where Toby and the Gibson's kids were playing. Carly handed me a tissue to wipe away my stray tears.

"Every week this happens. She sends me a piece of paper with her writing on it...makes me feel like she's here, but isn't. It's like an illusion I can't escape." Dotting the sides of my eyes, Carly escaped from Gibby's grasp, slid her chair closer to mine, put one arm around me and the other on my chest and pecked my cheek.

"She'll be home soon. A few months is nothing compared to the last time she was drafted."

I set the letter on the table. "I guess you're right." Gibby leaned forward.

"You really love her, don't you?"

I turned to him, more tears running down my face as I spoke. "You betcha." Carly played with strands of my hair as the sighing continued out of my mouth.

"Do you guys know what you're having yet?" I asked changing the subject. "Another girl?"

"Probably." Gibby scoffed.

"We don't know that for sure. We told Dr. Neysser we wanted it to be a suprise."

"Poor Gib, those 'Y' sperm just don't wanna swim." I pointed to her enlarged belly. "May I?"

"Of course, Uncle Freddie." Carly giggled. Placing my hand down, I felt a strong vibration which made me jerk my hand back.

"Oh boy. You might have another Gendy on your hands here." Gibby looked sternly at Carly. She put her hands up in defense.

"Sam hasn't been here since I got pregnant. It's yours, Gibson!" She pushed on his chest, scooting back over to him. He poked her chest back.

"You're cute!" The poking war continued.

"You are!"

"No, you are!"

"No, _you_ are."

"I love you."

"I love you too." Gibby cupped the back of her neck and pulled her in for a soft kiss. All I could do was stare awkwardly and tap the sides of my coffee cup with my wedding ring. I looked up at the American flag above the kitchen entrance. Whispering something to it:

"Love you, Sam."

...

_(8 weeks later)_

You ever get that sickening feeling in your stomach when you see something utterly disgusting? Like a really grusum car accident or something like that? I was experiencing that right now.

Not trying to scare the kids, I maintained my composure. Sam hadn't written me a letter in 2 months. The rule of thumb is: If a solider doesn't send a letter within a month that their last letter was sent, they've either left the battleground to go home or they've parished. Considering Sam never came home I can only assume option two happened.

I keep telling the kids that Sam's been sent on a secret mission that her boss told her to go on. But I know that's not true. Sam and I have talked about this before she's left. She told me that if she didn't write back at least once a month, she was gone. In return, I told her that we have such a special connection, I could tell if she was really gone or not. The connection wasn't there, so I didn't know what to think. Again, I can only assume the worst.

If she did...parish, I told her that I'd wait for her. Never get married again or even think about replacing her. So, that's what I was doing. I was waiting. The home phone rang. As the kids were watching TV in the living room, I picked it up.

"Hello?...R-right now! Seriously! Ok! Be there in a few...ok, see ya there!" I clicked the phone and ran into the living room.

"Kids, Carly's having her baby. We have to go to the hospital now!"

"Dad, when's mom coming home?" Toby asked as Ellen turned off the TV. My heart pulled a titanic on me.

"She's..." I checked my watch. "We have to go, now."

...

When we finally arrived to the hospital, I took the kids and ran into the waiting room, where a laid back Gibby sat with Spencer. Giving them both hugs, I asked about Carly's progression.

"She's only 3 centimeters." Gibby said.

"Doctors say it could be another 12 hours." Spencer added.

"Why aren't you in there?" I asked while holding the starbucks coffee I got on the way.

"This is our fifth kid. If she really needs me, she screams so loud that the hospital can hear here."

As if on cue, a loud "GIBBY!" was shouted through the hallway. Leaping up, Gibby and Spencer both skipped away. I got my laptop out and began to work on a project that Pear Inc. was preparing for next year.

"Dad?" Ellen interrupted me from my train of thought.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"You can tell me the truth. Where's mom?" Her hands rested on the armrest as I took an extra-long drink of my drink, setting it down on the oak round table next to me. I closed my laptop and let it rest in my lap.

"Mom's...probably not coming back this time." Her lips began to quiver as my paternal instincts took over. Setting the computer on the floor, I held her close as an overload of tears and sniffled stifled from her little body. That broke my heart the most. This time, I didn't cry, I just kissed her head multiple times, held her close, rubbed her back, and shushed her.

Spencer took the Gibson kid mob, Toby and Ellen out for ice cream a couple of hours later. Ellen felt a little better now that she cried it all out with me. Gibby came out minutes later, sucking the blood off his hand from Carly's nail indents.

"She got ya again, huh?

"Fifth time. I should've known this when Gendy was born."

"Are you really gonna name your next kid a 'G' name? Unless you're having 20 kids like the Duggars, good luck." I swatted his shoulder.

"Us? Heck no, Carly threatened to castrate me after the 3rd one was born. This one's our last, for sure...Did you tell Ellen?" He looked up at me for a second. Maintaining eye contact when I was about to cry was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I subsititued by looking down and running my fingers through my hair.

"It broke her heart. Even though we don't know for sure she's...gone, if she hasn't written in a month, something definitely happened."

"Do you have hope that the one in a million chance of her being alive is still an option."

Tears cascaded down. "Everyday."

"Well..." he patted me on the shoulder. "Whether you believe it or not, I think she's still out there."

"You really think?"

"Shoosh yeah! Sam's that one in a million person. Your relationship was one in a million. I tell you, man, she's out there. You just gotta believe." Spencer came back with the kids and the ice cream, lacking pants.

"What...where...why?" is all I could stutter out.

"The lady said my credit card couldn't go through so I gave her my pants. She took them and gave me my ice cream. I should do this more often; give all my clothes away for food."

"Spence, that's a less slutty version of being a hooker." I interjected.

"What's a hooker?" Gendy asked.

"_Good one_." Gibby muttered.

"Well, sweetheart...being a hooker means you donate your clothes to nice people for things in return. Like money, food, all that stuff."

"Cool!" She turned to Gibby. "Daddy, let's get all my clothes in a box and donate them to people for food! I wanna be a hooker."

"_Again, good one._" Gibby said. The doctor came in and told Gibby it was time to come in to help Carly push. Shaking his hand, I wished him luck upon not getting killed by Carly.

Spencer and I engaged in small talk for a bit while watching the kids. About 30 minutes later Gibby came out wearing a mask and other hospital gown materials.

"It's a boy! C'mon!" Spencer, the kids and I got up and hearded into a room where Carly held a blue blanket filled with a crying baby boy.

"He's really loud!" Spencer yelled over the baby's screams.

"He just realized he only has sisters." I yelled back.

"Back off! He's my baby boo!" Carly cooed at the baby and passed him around to all of us. He became nice and quiet when I got ahold of him.

"Wow, he likes you." Carly whispered. I just nodded and bounced him around a bit before handing him to Gibby. Immediately, the baby began crying and whacked Gibby in the eye.

"Ow!" He handed him back to Carly who was trying really hard not to laugh, along with the rest of us. "Great, another Sam." Carly eyes gained a glimmer in them, as if she had an idea.

"Sam..." she pondered as she looked down at the infant. "Samuel..." She looked up at Gibby, who nodded.

"Samuel...I like it." They both looked over at me. I put my hand over my heart.

"After...?" I asked. In sync, they nodded. My hand never left my heart as I stared at the new infant. The door opened and closed a few times behind me. Chatter errupted outside as some children screamed in delight. None of that phased me. All I could see was that baby. Carrying my possibly late wife's name. The door rang open again. Still didn't take my attention off the baby. Carly and Gibby even looked up, covering their mouthes. A person leaned up behind me and rested their chin on my shoulder.

"He'll be a ladies man..." The voice belonged to a female and was weirdly similar to someone I know.

"For sure. And he's even named after my wife..." Turning around, the person's ensamble intrigued me. Gazing upward, the camouflage led up to their face. It was..

"Sam!" I shrieked. She nodded vigerously as I picked her up and twirled her around, kissing her lips and cheeks multiple times.

"Forgot to send my last letter out. Sorry..." she handed me the paper, that I just tossed on the floor.

"None of that matters, it never matters. I'm just glad you're here and he's...named after you and...I waited." She flashed a smile and kissed my cheeck, still intangled in my arms.

"Missed you, nub."

"Right back atcha, demon."

...

Usually these stories have happy endings. Sam stayed home for another couple of years, delivering our newest baby, Anna. When Anna was one, Sam got listed again and had to go back out on the field.

She wrote letters for the first couple of months, then stopped. I thought the same situation had happened again. It didn't. A fellow solider friend of hers, Shaun, sent me the last letter Sam ever wrote along with a message of her passing. The cheif chose her and a few others to go on a mission. The ground they fought at was blown to pieces by grenades and other terrorist airplane crashes. No remains were found and no one had survived.

The letter she would've sent as her last hadn't finished yet, but it already had our special message written at the bottom:

_It takes two to go to war, one to fall in love_

_Or it only takes one to grab the other by the shoulders in mid-sentence, kiss them, go to a mental institution, and yell 'Bazinga!' before the other finally falls with them...or maybe that's justy us. :P_

I found a little sidenote written at the bottom as well. It sent me into a frenzy of tears.

_I love you. Please, don't wait this time._


End file.
